Chair: Dr. Jesse Hargrove, Ph.D.
Phone: (501) 370-5286 or (501) 370-5248
Email: jhargrove@philander.edu
Location: Titus Academic Center, Suite C - Room 218
Division of Education
Mission of the Division of Education
The mission of the Division of Education is consistent with the mission of Philander Smith College. The Division of Education builds upon the philosophy, as well as human, physical, and financial resources for the implementation of its programs and services. Furthermore, the Division of Education is committed to providing outstanding educators who will become community, national, and world leaders committed to life-long learning. Education candidates are prepared for both school and non-school settings. Each program is designed to support the college’s mission to graduate academically accomplished students who are grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to intentionally change the world for the better.
Conceptual Framework
The theme of the conceptual framework for the program is “The Teacher as the FORCE in the Teaching/ Learning Process.” The framework’s underlying principles are: Facilitator, Organizer, Reflector, Collaborator, and Energizer. Each principle is aligned with Pathwise four domains, Arkansas Standards, and professional standards.
Teacher Education Programs
The Division of Education offers Teacher Education licensure programs in Early Childhood Education (ECED) (grades P-4), Middle Childhood Education Generalist (MCEA) (grades 4-8) (candidates must choose one of two concentrations: either English/Language Arts/Social Studies or Math/Science), Vocational Education/Business Technology (VOBT) (grades 7-12) and a non-licensure program in Physical Education (PHED). Each program is built upon a sound liberal arts foundation, an appropriate content area foundation, and is designed to enable candidates to acquire , knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are crucial to effective teaching.
All education majors interested in pursuing a Teacher Education Degree leading to licensure must meet Philander Smith College graduation and Arkansas Licensure requirements.
Admission to the Teacher Education Program
Admission to the College does not automatically admit the education major to the Teacher Education Program. Education majors must meet the following published guidelines for each program.
Faculty/Academic Advisors
Jesse James Hargrove, Ph.D.
Chair, Division of Education
Teacher Licensure Officer
Dr. Jesse J. Hargrove is a noted author, neologist, distinguished educator, poet, photographer, futurist, and scholar who says that public education has not kept pace with the new shifts in societal changes which have been prompted by national and global events. He encourages parents to play their role in educating children about the importance of going to school and getting a good education. His research focuses on a new generation of learners in America, which he refers to as the Deuce Millennium Generation.
He uses ethnography as a research medium to capture a snapshot picture of the culture understudy. He was born in rural Gough, Georgia, where his great grandmother, Celia Adams, was an ex-slave and a mid-wife who lived from March 12, 1856 – March 21, 1942. He was born 100 years after the birth of his great grandfather, Solomon Hargrove, who was born on February 22, 1853. Solomon was an educator who taught children to read and write, but was tragically lynched in 1893 for organizing his free school at Eden Baptist Church which his wife Celia helped to found in Louisville, Georgia, in 1885.
His mother instilled within him a love for education. He developed a love for reading in the fourth grade. Ranked ninth in the Class of 1971, he graduated with honors from Dillard High School. Hargrove then attended Dillard University in New Orleans in 1975, graduating Magna Cum Laude. At the time, he majored in Spanish Education after earning scholarships to study at two schools in Guadalajara, Mexico, during the summer and a junior year exchange program at the University of California at Berkeley. Arthur Jensen and William Shockley studied him and his peers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the I.Q. genetic inferiority issue of the era. In 1977, Hargrove was awarded the M.A. degree in Spanish and Spanish-American Literature and received the Ph.D. degree in 1983 from the College of education in Bilingual/Multicultural Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois.
Hargrove has previously taught Spanish in public schools and higher education. He has worked at two colleges in the University of Wisconsin system, University of Arizona in Tucson, Broward County Public Schools, and Philander Smith College.
Currently, he is Chair of the Division of Education and has served in administration as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Dean of Instruction, and Assistant Dean of Instruction at Philander Smith College where he has been employed for the past ten years. He is civic-minded and from 2004-2009, he served as Chair of the Arkansas Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap.
Betty Dickson, Ed.D.
Professor of Education
Dr. Betty Dickson received her Doctorate of Education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in May of 1989. Prior to earning her doctorate, with an emphasis in Reading/Early Childhood Education, Dr. Dickson earned a Master of Education in Elementary Education from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff (formerly AM & N).
Dr. Dickson spent the first 14 years of her career as an elementary/early childhood school teacher in the public school systems in Wabbaseka, Pine Bluff, and Little Rock, Arkansas. While writing her dissertation on the impact of magnet schools, Dr. Dickson worked as an Early Childhood Curriculum Coordinator at Williams Magnet School. This presented her with an opportunity to directly observe the effectiveness of a magnet school in comparison to a traditional elementary school. Her first position in higher education was at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway. There she taught courses such as Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading, Reading in the Content, and Children's Literature to undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Dickson also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock before joining Philander Smith College.
While at Philander Smith College, Dr. Dickson has served as an Associate Professor, Interim Division Chair, and is now a Professor and Coordinator of Early Childhood Education within the Division of Education. Throughout her career, Dr. Dickson has presented at local, state, national, and international conferences, published articles, and secured grants for Philander Smith College. Her tireless contributions to the field of education have prepared hundreds of future teachers to lead our country's youth.
Lloyd Hervey, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Education
Dr. Lloyd Hervey I is a 1968 graduate of Philander Smith College. Dr. Hervey holds a Master of Science in Education degree in Elementary Education from the university of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas and a Doctorate in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership with an emphasis in Elementary Education from the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Hervey's teaching experience spans a period of thirty years as a public school teacher, having taught 4 year-olds, fifth and sixth grades, and facilitating a middle school gifted program. In addition, he has nine years of experience as an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Central Arkansas and Philander Smith College.
Dr. Hervey is published having co-authored an article for a reading journal and as a contributor of a chapter on diversity for an introduction to education text. He has made several educational presentations at the state, national, and international levels. His primary research interest is the integration of learning styles, theory, and multiple intelligence as a means of accommodating the academic needs of diverse student populations.
Annie Winkler Williams, Ed.D.
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
NCATE Coordinator/Accreditation Director
Dr. Williams coordinates the Vocational Education/Business Technology Program (secondary level, grades 7-12). Additionally, she serves as coordinator for the division’s National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) re-accreditation.
Tyrone P. McGraw, M.S.E.
Associate Professor of Health and Physical Education
Tyrone McGraw, father of five children, is the second son and one of eight children born to Rev. and Mrs. George W. McGraw in Stephens, Arkansas, but he spent his formative years in Alexandria, Louisiana, where he graduated from Peabody High School in 1963. As an outstanding basketball player in high school he won a basketball scholarship to Shorter Jr. College in North Little Rock where he attended from 1964-1966, where he obtained an Associate Arts Degree.
From 1966-1969, again on a basketball scholarship, he attended Philander Smith College where he earned many awards and was an all-conference player, a team leading rebounder, and ranked third in leading scores. He helped lead Philander Smith College to a Gulf Coast Conference championship in 1966-1967. He averaged double digits in scoring and rebounding during his college career.
Coach McGraw enrolled in graduate school at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., where he earned his master's degree. In 1971, he returned to Philander Smith College as a health instructor and coach. As coach, he organized the PSC Panther Athletic Club and the first women's and men's volleyball teams. Over the past 31 years, he has served as Chair of the Physical Education Department, athletic director, men's and women's basketball coach, baseball, softball, track & field, and soccer coach, as well as Intramural Director, Women's Volleyball Director, and the Director of NYSP.
Honors include: Coach of the Year, Sears Teacher of the Year, both at Philander Smith College.
Memberships include: Arkansas Activities Association, State and National America for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Arkansas School Health Association (NAIA).
Currently his responsibilities include: Sponsor of Physical Education Major Club; Serves on the Athletic Committee, Teacher Education Committee, NCATE Committee, and Physical Education Multipurpose Complex Building Committee.
Coach McGraw also wrote the PSC Panther Athletic Club Handbook, PSC NYSP Handbook, the Intramural Program Handbook, PSC Physical Education Handbook, PSC NCATE Folio for Physical Education, Interregional Athletic Conference Volleyball Handbook, and he assisted in the writing of the Interregional Athletic Conference Basketball Handbook.
Melanie Kennon, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Education
Field Experience Coordinator
Dr. Melanie J. Kennon has over 25 years experience in teaching, curriculum design and development, strategic leadership training, and mentoring, in a variety of venues. She has worked for Fortune 500 companies as well as the Arkansas Department of Education and three Arkansas universities to design, coordinate, and implement professional and leadership development programs. From her early beginnings in the field of education as a first grade teacher to her time at the Arkansas Department of Education and at various universities across the state, Dr. Kennon has remained true to her calling as a teacher. She is a consummate life long learner who likes to be challenged and to learn new things, and to share that knowledge with others. She has a great affection for young children and believes that the impact that early childhood teachers have on the children in their classrooms has life-long lasting effects, so we better get it right! She believes that teacher quality is strongly correlated with student achievement, and continues to contribute to teacher quality in the state through her interactions with the students in the teacher education program at Philander Smith College.
She currently serves as Field Experience Coordinator and Assistant Professor in the Division of Education. Her state-wide credits include implementation of the PATHWISE Mentoring Program for novice teachers and the Praxis III Performance Assessment for initial licensure in the state of Arkansas. She is currently researching the development of effective teacher dispositions in pre-service candidates. Her other research interests include strategies for forming proactive partnerships with parents of those students having learning disabilities or ADHD, behavior guidance techniques that enrich the self esteem of young children, as well as development of inexpensive learning centers in early childhood classrooms. Dr. Kennon has frequently provided professional development training for a number of early childhood centers and professional groups.
Dr. Kennon holds a B.A. in Psychology from Rhodes College, an M.Ed from University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and an Ed.D in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership from University of Memphis, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She is an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Human Resource Management Association, the American Society for Training and Development, and has served on the Parent’s Board of Directors at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Kennon has been active over the last 5 years in working with the residents of the Dorcas House and Women and Children First shelters for battered women, teaching them goal setting, resume and interviewing skills, and positive self-messages.
In her spare time, Dr. Kennon’s interests expand to the field of human resource management and organizational development. Melanie is a Certified Facilitator for DDI (Developmental Dimensions International) and Franklin-Covey time management and leadership development. She is President of Kennon & Associates Consulting, LLC, a people development company that specializes in human resource and customized training and development services. Melanie specializes in such areas as executive coaching, team building, organizational development, communication skills, time management, and human resource solutions. She serves as a quarterly guest writer for City and Town Magazine on leadership and organizational management issues. Dr. Kennon also enjoys music, reading, cooking, gardening, and most of all, playing with her grandson, Owen!
James E. Johnson, M.A.
Assistant Professor of Health and Physical Education
James E. Johnson is now in his second year as Philander Smith College Athletic Director and Head Men’s Basketball Coach. He has brought leadership and an array of knowledge of intercollegiate athletics, and has helped to heighten the give Philander Smith College an enviable stature as the program pursues success in the National Association Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in 2008-09. Johnson became Philander Smith College’s Athletic Director in August 2007.
Behind his leadership, needed developments have occurred throughout the program in the past year both from a competitive and administrative stand-point. He oversees three sports teams that are in the process of becoming one of the local community’s more well-rounded athletics programs. Under his leadership, Philander Smith College will continue to thrive on all fronts including the competitive arenas, student athletes’ welfare, and the necessary financial strategies required to operate Philander Smith College’s athletic department. He is on track to developing strong continuity in Philander Smith College athletics. By hiring a knowledeable coach and recruiting a host of talented players, Johnson assembled a 2007-2008 United States Collegiate Athletic Association, (USCAA), 2nd place championship women’s basketball team.
As the Head Men’s basketball coach, in his first season, he obtained a record of 11-16, and developed two USCAA honorable mention all-America candidates; one of them was an Academic All-America Candidate. His 2007-08 team defeated a preseason NAIA top 3 nominee, Crichton College of Memphis, and a NCAA Division II opponent, the University of Monticello (UAM). In 2008, he hired a very talented new staff, Brandon Greenwood and Carlos Lewis.
His freshman class would be listed as the best recruiting class Philander Smith College has seen in a long time. Along with his top freshman class, he recruited experienced transfers that should help the men’s basketball program reach championship level. He received his first head coaching duties at Tucson High Magnet School in 1998-99, a 5A high school sports program in Tucson, Arizona. After 1 year at Tucson High, he accepted an opportunity that has prepared him for his role at Philander Smith College. He became the Athletic Director, Physical Education Director, and Head Boy's Basketball Coach at Tucson Urban League Charter School in 1999-2002.
After 2 years with the Urban League High School, he posted 2 winning seasons and compiled a record of 60–5. Johnson developed a thriving athletic program with three new sports: boy's and girl’s basketball and soccer, and developed the school’s first physical education program that was listed as the premier physical education program for charter schools. After 3 years from collegiate sports he returned, and became a men’s assistant basketball coach and Physical Education Instructor at Pima Community College in 2002-2003. After serving 1 year with Pima, he returned home to Little Rock, Arkansas.
James received his Bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in 1989, and completed a Master of Arts Degree in Education in 1996 from the University of Arizona. His coaching experiences began at the NAIA collegiate level and continued at the both NCAA Division I and semi-professional levels. He served for 9 years as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Western Washington University from 1989-98 and coached with the Yakima Sunkings (a semi-pro team) from 1989-93 in Yakima, Washington. Also, for 2 years, under the watchful eyes of top Division I coaches Lute Olson and Joan Bonvinici, he worked as a graduate assistant in athletics at the University of Arizona from 1994-96.
James was born January 16, 1964, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a 1983 graduate of Little Rock Central High School, and both of his parents are Philander Smith College alumni; his father, Thomas Rainey (67) and mother, Florine Johnson, (70).
Angelo Thomas, M.S.
Assistant Professor of Education
Director-Teacher Education Laboratory
Angelo Thomas, a recognized educator, scholar, and accomplished painter/artist, is a 1984 graduate of Southern Arkansas University-Magnolia, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education with a minor in Library Science. He graduated in 1979 from Emerson High School in Emerson, Arkansas and was a participant in the Upward Bound program at Southern Arkansas University-Magnolia from 1977-79. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
After teaching at various public schools in the state from 1984-1990 (Mount Holly, Emerson, and Taylor), he received the U.S. Department of Education’s Library Fellowship Grant for Minorities in 1990 to attend the University of Central Arkansas as a graduate student. He graduated in August 1991 with a Master of Science degree in Library Media/Instructional Technology. He has been the Director of the Teacher Education Laboratory at Philander Smith College since 1991. His professional memberships include ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education), NEA (National Education Association), and ALA (American Library Association).
His areas of interest in research include library research (non-print and print media usage by African-Americans and minorities), trends in instructional media/educational technology in the 21st century, database managment, old master's painting techniques/media for African-American and minority artists, and apprenticeship/mentoring current and future African-American and minority artists.
He has worked with local civic organizations, businesses, and charities including the Angels of Mercy, Arkansas Homeless Coalition, Multicultural/Diversity in the Arts Committee for the city of Little Rock, Lion's Club, Starving Artist’s Café, and the Little Rock Small Business Incubator Department. He has also worked as a librarian at Agape College in Little Rock and as an Adjunct Professor at Shorter College and Arkansas Baptist College.
An accomplished artist, Mr. Thomas has been seriously painting since 1995. His recent art exhibitions include one-man shows at Philander Smith College and Southern Arkansas University-Magnolia. Also, he is one of 40 showcased regional artists at the Arkansas Institute of Learning (located on Clinton Avenue in the Little Rock River-Market area).
Mr. Thomas has shown many of his works in galleries and exhibitions in Arkansas and Louisiana. An online gallery of his highly creative artworks can be seen at http://fineartamerica.com and www.gallery-worldwide.com. He can be reached at athomas@philander.edu
Donna Collins
Administrative Assistant
Ms. Collins has served as Administrative Assistant for the Division of Education since 2004.
She has been actively involved in the successful completion of NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) as well as the Early Childhood Education SPA reports and approval of the Middle Level Education program. She enjoys assisting students and helping them to set goals for passing the PRAXIS exams and completing the Teacher Education program.
Ms. Collins holds a bachelor's degree in social science from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Also, she has a background in market research and surveys where she has done everything from interviewing to focus group moderation.